As a follow up to my recent article on the rumors that Apple was making a “big” education-related announcement in NYC on 1/19/12 (today), here’s some more information from the Washington Post on what they announced. In summary:

1. YES, Apply WILL revolutionize the textbook industry
2. There’s a new app that enables just about anyone to create a digital, interactive textbook
3. There’s another new app as part of iTunesU that will enable just about anyone to create an online course via an app

These are important milestones in the democratization of the textbook industry that will pave the way for independent publishers and amateurs to create some really compelling and specialized texts, and have a channel to distribute them that is similar to an ebook and app.

To support this new initiative, some major textbook publishers have already started making content available as an example, with many more texts planned – especially high volume texts that are used by millions of K-12 students around the country.

These textbooks aren’t just static texts. Rather, they include several interactive features including the ability to take notes, quizzes, make flash cards, and so much more. These textbooks leverage the uniqueness of apps and the digital space.

The courses are another great democratization of content delivery. You can package lectures, videos, books, and many other assets, including quizzes and syllabi into a course to be downloaded from iTunesU. Any time there are updates, you can push those just like in a regular app.

All-in-all, this is a wild new frontier for the education space that is surely going to present some challenges (quality) and some opportunities (new materials at a lower cost).

I can’t wait to try out some of these new courses and textbooks for myself!

Audrey Watters at ReadWriteWeb recently posted commentary on Xplana’s research report on the penetration and growth rates of e-books.  Data suggests that by 2015 as many as 1 in 4 college text books will be delivered electronically. This number is game-changing, not only for books stores (online and bricks and mortar), but how we, as lifetime learners will need to adapt our study habits, note-taking skills and overall comprehension. The e-book provides many pros and cons, which we won’t debate in this post, but we can all probably agree that it will change the way we learn and how we are instructed. Check out Audrey’s full post here which covers more eye-opening data. Should you go out an buy a Kindle or iPad? Not so fast… as with all early technology, there will be many rounds of innovation. Don’t feel rushed to adopt digital readers. Prices will come down, features will improve, and college ebooks will evolve. Until then, a 5 lb biology book and a yellow highlighter should suffice.

Caught this article at Silicon Valley Insider about how a California startup is working to offer text books for the iPad.

Apple iPad

This could really revolutionize online learning.  While many schools, including American Public University System already utilize ebooks, they are in proprietary formats for simply PDFs.  This can make portability, especially for those folks deployed in the field, a challenge.  An ebook for the iPad, or other e-readers, such as the Amazon Kindle or Sony, could extend portability further.  Personally, I’m a traditionalist and still enjoy my big yellow highlighter for note taking… so we’ll have to see if those of us used to paper-based note-taking can get used to an electronic format.